It’s a nice way to spend some time. You get exercise and a chat. Excellent!
Why Does This Matter?
When having a discussion, watching someone or hearing a speech, ask yourself, “Why does this matter?”.
Not to the world, but to you. Why is it having an impact on you? What emotion or feeling is it stirring up inside you? Take some time to consider 5 or 6 reasons why this is important for you. It can really reveal some useful information about yourself.
Why does this matter? You’d be surprised.
You Lack Discipline Not Motivation
If you are not achieving your goals, reread the title of this post six times. Motivation is a feeling and often it is fleeting. People might say that they feel motivated or didn’t feel motivated. Even those with a big Why to do something can feel unmotivated at times.
What you really need to build is some discipline in your life. This means that even when you lack motivation, don’t feel like it or want to take a break, your discipline will kick in and you’ll do it.
Few people would want to leave their comfy, warm, dry bed at 05:40am to go for a 10km run in the dark, cold and wet. If you leave the option to motivation, you might just give it a pass and go back to sleep. However, if you’ve developed discipline, that habit of doing things you’ve committed to will happen.
Discipline does not require ‘feeling like it’. Discipline means you push through despite not feeling like it.
Plan what you need to do and use your discipline to carry you through.
If you are not achieving, you lack discipline not motivation.
Who Sets Your Pace?
What tempo do you move at? Are you getting things done like a person possessed or are you chilling like there is all the time in the world?
Once again, this can be heavily influenced by the 5 people you spend the most time with. If you are working with people who are action takers and getting things done quickly, you’ll probably start doing the same. If you are surrounded by people who sit on the park bench watching the world go by, you’ll probably find yourself there ever more frequently.
And if you think you have no further capacity to do more, you may be wrong. Consider Roger Bannister who came fourth in the Olympics in 1952 for the 1500 meters. Then, using top pacers in 1954, he became the first person to break the 4 minute mile at 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
Who sets your pace?
*(Thank you Ski for the topic in our Clubhouse room Monday)
Consider The Data Presented
Always test the underlying information. Trust but verify is a useful phrase. Look at things from both sides or all angles. Take the emotion out of it. If you can find better context, use it. We will be better off. Consider the data presented.
Seeing Old Friends
It’s always lovely to see old friends. You have a shared past which can bind you in many ways. It’s nice to talk about times you’ve shared, changes and new adventures.
Even though a lot of time may have passed, you can catch up on key points quite easily. You know the key characters and events from before. Now you get an insight into what’s happened since.
It’s amazing how quick we can catch each other up on the truly important matters in our life. We can summarise years of activity into 15-30 minutes. Obviously more things happened and their impact was felt. But we can share the highlights, especially the positive or humorous.
Seeing old friends is definitely worth taking the time to do. Cherish those moments. They are your history in the making.
Decisions Change Lives
Deciding to hire someone, or not, will affect their life in ways we cannot know. This might be a make or break moment for the person in any number of ways. Same thing for school teams, club and county sports. Some will be elated by the decision and some will not. Some will take this opportunity and excel and others will let it drift out of their hands.
Decisions matter. Each and every one. Their impact cannot always be seen or known.
But decisions change lives. Yours. Theirs.
Be mindful.
Change Yourself First
Then you can change the world. If we all tried to be better people individually, we would be better as a group through natural consequence.
If you’re trying to change someone, you’re unlikely to do it. Only the subject person will make the change happen. Berating someone or belittling them won’t do it. It often has the opposite effect. You can lead a horse to water…. Even make it look nice and dress it up. But you can’t force someone, or a horse, to take a sip.
Change yourself first. And if you have time left on the clock, then help others. Rather than force them.
